LLAW’s All Things Nuclear #746, Tuesday, (09/10/2024)
“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity”
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
LLAW’s NUCLEAR VIEWS, ISSUES & COMMENTS, Tuesday, (09/10/2024)
This seemingly perpetual nuclear power plant situation, which has been ongoing for two-+ years, in the face of the war between Russia and Ukraine tells us how this war has already gone nuclear, but also involves a questionable, but so far lesser more recent attack on the Kursk nuclear power plant in Russia. In other words, nuclear bombs are not required to create a nuclear war.
And yet the US and other countries are anxious to build SMR (Small Nuclear Reactors) all over the world. These plants, if they ever come into existence, will obviously be subject to future wars, nuclear accidents, and nuclear terrorism.
We have known the horrible truth about “All Things Nuclear” since the 1940s, yet we seem to fail to understand the not only possible, but probable, self-extermination of life on planet Earth that nuclear power of every kind can and will, one day or another, cause the 6th Extinction. And all we can say, for the first time in the history of this world, we did it to ourselves. ~llaw
News
IAEA issues report on war-ravaged Ukrainian nuclear plant
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Publish date: September 9, 2024
The International Atomic Energy Agency has published a new report on its efforts to ensure nuclear safety and security during the conflict in Ukraine, with the agency’s director-general warning that the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station remains “precarious and very fragile.”
The report’s release came during a visit to the plant by agency head Rafael Grossi, who last week announced that one of the site’s cooling towers would likely have to be demolished following a fire that ravaged it last month.
It was the first time IAEA teams had, in fact, been allowed inside the cooling tower, which agency experts had repeatedly sought permission from the Russian occupiers to inspect on numerous occasions, only to be denied.
Fire broke out in the tower on August 11, with Russia and Ukraine accusing each other of actions that triggered the blaze. Grossi at the time described the incident as one of numerous “reckless attacks,” but did not attribute blame nor elucidate the cause.
Grossi also inspected pumping stations and fresh fuel storage at the site — which could point to aspirations of the Russian occupiers to eventually restart one or more of the reactors, said Bellona expert Dmitry Gorchakov, who has written a detailed report on such a possibility.
The IAEA’s 28-page document highlights the challenges of the IAEA’s activities to protect Europe’s largest nuclear power station, which is on the frontline of fighting and has been under Russian control since soon after the February 2022 invasion.
Throughout this time, IAEA teams at the site have reported on incidents including shelling and drone strikes at the facility. The plant has also suffered repeated loss of offsite power, which hobbles its cooling systems.
Since Grossi last went to the Zaporizhzhia site in February, the plant has experienced loss of powerlines in addition to the cooling tower fire, and the nearby plant worker’s settlement of Enerhodar has been strafed by drone attacks.
Grossi said the IAEA’s “comprehensive assistance” to Ukraine has seen 59 deliveries of equipment needed to maintain nuclear safety and security, with a total value of over $11 million. In total, the IAEA has conducted 139 support and assistance missions to the nuclear sites in Ukraine, the report said.
Grossi also recently visited the Kursk nuclear plant in Russia, which after an August 6 cross-border incursion by Ukrainian troops last month, is at risk of becoming yet another nuclear facility drawn into the war.
Russia claimes the Kursk plant has been attacked by Ukrainian forces, citing fragments of a drone found at the site—though the origins of the drone have not been established.
Grossi said during that visit that the Kursk plant was extremely fragile because it had no protective dome and that the “danger or possibility of a nuclear accident has emerged near here.”
Ukraine’s foreign ministry last Thursday denounced what it said were Russian efforts to accuse Ukraine of provocations that threatened nuclear safety, saying this was a “disinformation campaign to distract attention from its own criminal acts at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant”.
In its report, the IAEA wrote that it has also continued safeguards verification activities across Ukraine, ensuring that there is no diversion of nuclear material for military purposes. Assistance programs were established in the areas of health care and the nuclear safety and security of radioactive sources.
The agency also implemented programs to support Ukraine in managing the impact of the flooding of the Kherson Oblast and other regions in the aftermath of the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam.
A few months after the establishment of the IAEA’s presence at Zaporizhzhia, Grossi set up similar missions at the four other nuclear facilities in Ukraine – the Khmelnitski, Rivne and South Ukraine nuclear power plants, and the shut-down Chernobyl site.
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA”:
There are 7 categories, with the latest addition, (#7) being a Friday weekly roundup of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) global nuclear news stories. Also included is a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that play an important role in humanity’s lives. The feature categories provide articles and information about ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links with headlines concerning the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:
All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War
Nuclear War Threats
Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There are 3 Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in this evening’s Post.)
IAEA Weekly News (Friday’s only)
Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.
A current Digest of major nuclear media headlines with automated links is listed below by nuclear Category (in the above listed order). If a Category heading does not appear in the daily news Digest, it means there was no news reported from this Category today. Generally, the three best articles in each Category from around the nuclear world(s) are Posted. Occasionally, if a Post is important enough, it may be listed in multiple Categories.
TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Tuesday, (09/10/2024)
All Things Nuclear
NEWS
Clayton Kershaw 'trying everything,' even working with Skechers, to ease toe injury
Los Angeles Times
... all things, by an injury to the big toe on his left foot. ... Skies above Southern California wildfire looked like 'a nuclear warhead had been set off' ...
Balloon Fiesta 2024: What you need to know - KRQE
KRQE
This article will detail all things Balloon Fiesta for those planning on attending. ... nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima prefecture ...
UV Lasers and Combs Provide High Frequency Light for Nuclear Clock - Photonics Spectra
Photonics Spectra
While the team's laboratory demonstration is not a fully developed nuclear clock, it contains all the key technology for one. ... All Things Photonics ...
Nuclear Power
NEWS
Fukushima nuclear plant: operation begins to remove radioactive debris - The Guardian
The Guardian
An aerial view of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant ... Tepco plant officials remotely control a robot operating at Fukushima nuclear power ...
What role will 'new nuclear' play in the energy transition? | Spectra
Spectra - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Index. Extending the lifetime of conventional nuclear power plants Small but powerful Diversifying nuclear's use cases Scaling up new nuclear. The ...
IAEA issues report on war-ravaged Ukrainian nuclear plant - Bellona.org
Bellona.org
The International Atomic Energy Agency has published a new report on its efforts to ensure nuclear safety and security during the conflict in Ukraine, ...
Nuclear Power Emergencies
NEWS
Lafayette mayor-president declares state of emergency due to Tropical Storm Francine
WKRG
A robot begins removal of melted fuel from the Fukushima … This photo shows the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima prefecture, ...
Harvey Weinstein taken to NYC hospital for emergency heart surgery: representatives
FOX 8 News
Harvey Weinstein taken to NYC hospital for emergency heart surgery: representatives ... nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima prefecture, northern ...
Jailed Harvey Weinstein taken to NYC hospital for emergency heart surgery, his representatives say
Times Union
Jailed ex-movie mogul Harvey Weinstein underwent emergency heart surgery at a New York ... This photo shows the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in ...
Nuclear War
NEWS
60 Years After Lyndon Johnson's “Daisy Ad,” the Silence on Nuclear War Is Dangerous
Counterpunch
Screenshot from the Daisy Advertisement. One evening in early September 1964, a frightening commercial jolted 50 million Americans who were partway ...
IAEA issues report on war-ravaged Ukrainian nuclear plant - Bellona.org
Bellona.org
The International Atomic Energy Agency has published a new report on its efforts to ensure nuclear safety and security during the conflict in Ukraine, ...
North Korea's Kim Jong Un says country to increase number of nuclear weapons, KCNA says
Reuters
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the country is now implementing a nuclear force construction policy to increase the number of nuclear weapons ...
Nuclear War Threats
NEWS
North Korean leader Kim orders boost to nuclear arsenal - Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
... nuclear threats. North Korea said the guideline revealed its ... Israeli attacks kill over 41,000 Palestinians since start of war on Gaza.
Kim Jong Un calls for major nuclear weapons buildup in response to U.S. threat
Space War News
Last month, North Korea unveiled new "suicide" attack drones and an upgraded multiple rocket launcher -- short-range weapons that threaten targets ...
Vladimir Putin 'almost' used nukes in Ukraine as intelligence chiefs warn of 'threat to world order'
MSN
... threats to global stability from China and Russia during a time of ... Putin has 'clear intent' to make nuclear war with the West possible as he '
Yellowstone Caldera
NEWS
New study seeks to shed light on earthquake hazards in the Gallatin Range - USGS.gov
USGS.gov
Yellowstone's icy past. Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano ...
Mag. 1.9 quake - 65 km WNW of Beluga, Alaska, on Monday, Sep 9, 2024, at 03:53 am ...
Volcano Discovery
More on VolcanoDiscovery. Yellowstone quakes · Yellowstone quakes · Latest earthquakes under Yellowstone volcano ... caldera and picturesque villages.
94 km Southwest of Xinyuan, Xinjiang, China, on Monday, Sep 9, 2024, at 01:53 pm (Urumqi Time)
Volcano Discovery
List and interactive map of current and past earthquakes near Yellowstone volcano. ... Santorini is one of the most beautiful islands in the world, ...